Every day, corrections professionals step into unpredictable environments that most people will never fully understand.
At any given moment, they are responsible for maintaining safety, ensuring security, managing risk, providing care, offering assistance, and stepping in as mediators, mentors, and first responders, all while making decisions that carry real world consequences.
Regardless of role, the service they provide demands consistency, awareness, dedication, and sound judgment, yet much of it happens without meaningful recognition or acknowledgment.
Over time, that matters. It shapes how people percieve their value, influences how the profession is viewed from the outside, and impacts who chooses to enter and stay in these critical positions.
At One Voice United, we believe this profession should be understood in a way that reflects the realities of the modern corrections workforce. That starts with making it visible and recognizing the people behind it. It also means being clear about the expectations and impact it has on real people, and what it demands day in and day out.
When that happens, it builds pride, reinforces purpose, and helps create a more stable and committed workforce.
That is the thinking behind the OVU Medal of Honor and the Elevating Our Profession Conference. Both are meant to highlight the people behind this work and reinforce its value in a way that feels authentic and informed.
One Voice United’s National Medal of Honor is the nation’s premier awards ceremony that brings together uniformed and civilian staff from across the country to recognize their heroism, courage, and professionalism throughout the field of corrections.
Honorees are nominated by their peers or departments and selected by a committee of current and former officers and staff.
Nominations to recognize acts of service in 2025 will open later this year.
Lifting up corrections professionals in a national spotlight not only honors their service but changes the narrative around the profession and the brave men and women who do the job. It’s our opportunity to come together, celebrate our own, and show the country that corrections is full of dedicated public servants who deserve our respect and recognition.
Today we are honored to announce the nominees for the 2025 One Voice United National Corrections Medal of Honor.
Each nominee represents the strength, professionalism, and quiet leadership that defines corrections at its best. These individuals show up every day in challenging environments with integrity, resilience, and a commitment to service that deserves national recognition.
Honorees will be announced March 15, 2026, and formally recognized at the Awards Banquet and Ceremony on May 1, 2026 in Atlantic City, New Jersey
To every nominee, thank you. You elevate this profession and remind all of us why this work matters.
If you plan to join us in Atlantic City, we look forward to celebrating together.
One Voice United is proud to host a silent auction in support of the National Medal of Honor, featuring three exclusive experience packages.
The auction includes two separate New York Yankees Game Day Experiences. Each package includes two tickets to a Yankees home game of the winner’s choice, along with exclusive field passes for batting practice. Seats are located between Sections 116 and 124, offering an up close and memorable game day experience. Games are subject to availability and exclude Opening Day and Yankees vs Mets or Dodgers games.
Also available is a Universal Orlando Resort™ Getaway for Four (4) 2-Park, 1 – Day Park to Park Tickets to Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, along with a complimentary 3-night hotel stay at a participating Universal Orlando Resort hotel. The estimated value of this package is $1,500. Blackout dates and additional restrictions apply, and full redemption details will be provided to the winning bidder.
All auction items are bid on separately.
Bidding closes May 1 at 12 pm ET.
Click below to view full details and place a bid
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The One Voice United Elevating Our Profession (EOP) Conference is not a typical meeting or boondoggle. It’s a purpose-built gathering of frontline corrections professionals, union leaders, researchers, policy experts, and innovators designed to uplift the profession and drive meaningful change. Over the course of two and a half days, conference attendees will engage in candid conversations about policy, new technology, strategy, and leadership, with a focus on taking action (not just talking) and developing solutions they can take home.
Corrections is at a crossroads. Staffing shortages, recruitment and retention issues, exposure to trauma, lack of recognition, and outdated policies continue to undermine safety, morale, and effectiveness across the profession and within every institution. The EOP Conference was created to provide a space to face these realities, discuss what’s happening across the country, and find solutions together.
Leaders from dozens of unions and associations representing nearly 150,000+ corrections and parole and probation professionals from the U.S. and around the world.
Establish contacts that enable you to reach out to dozens of correctional experts on a moment’s notice. Our conference attendees are the men and women who do the job of corrections every day and the union and association leaders who represent them with a variety of skills and expertise. With over a thousand years of experience in the room, there is much to learn from each other. Nowhere else can you find this level of correctional talent gathered in one space.
From health and mortality statistics, to how to determine an accurate staffing ratio, to the financial cost of PTSD, OVU and our partners stay on top of the data, research, and statistics our profession needs to stay up to date and move ahead.
Whether it’s the potential impacts of AI in corrections, new technology, staff wellness, staffing ratios or infrastructure, OVU brings in subject matter experts to inform and assess the most current topics shaping the profession.
OVU is about taking action. Our conferences don't consist of endless lectures. We identify problems and work together on devising and IMPLEMENTING strategies through working groups and real-time feedback.
